Ex-hockey coach acquitted of engaging prostitute Alexis Wright

Result of case could prevent other alleged clients from being charged

ALFRED — Former Kennebunk High School hockey coach Donald Hill was acquitted Tuesday on a charge of engaging the services of prostitute Alexis Wright, after a judge ruled prosecutors were not able to prove that money was exchanged.

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By Jennifer Feals

seacoastonline.com

By Jennifer Feals

Posted Aug. 22, 2013 at 2:00 AM

By Jennifer Feals
Posted Aug. 22, 2013 at 2:00 AM

» Social News

ALFRED — Former Kennebunk High School hockey coach Donald Hill was acquitted Tuesday on a charge of engaging the services of prostitute Alexis Wright, after a judge ruled prosecutors were not able to prove that money was exchanged.

The ruling could affect any additional charges of individuals alleged to have engaged Wright's services.

Justice Roland Cole ruled shortly after 1 p.m. Tuesday that due to a lack of evidence Hill's two-day trial would not continue. The decision came after Cole decided against allowing the state to enter into evidence the business ledger, dated from Oct. 2010 to Feb. 13, 2012, and key that Wright used to record data from her prostitution business.

"Yes there was a sex act, yes there was sexual contact in regard to Mr. Hill and Ms. Wright. They are two adults," Cole said. "But there has been no admissible evidence, considering the number of witnesses called here, to establish that there was any financial gain."

Hill, 53, of Old Orchard Beach, was the first of Wright's alleged clients to take his case to court. He said afterward that Cole's ruling "feels good."

"It's been a rough year and it's good to finally have my day in court," said Hill, who has maintained that he believed he and Wright were in a relationship. "We're extremely happy with it."

Prosecutors said they will not be appealing the judge's ruling.

"Obviously we thought the evidence was admissible and that's why we offered the evidence in the trial. The judge ruled it was not admissible and that's unfortunately how it goes in some court cases," said Assistant District Attorney Patrick Gordon. "Not all the evidence we think is admissible is available to go to the jury and without that evidence, that was crucial in our case, we couldn't proceed."

Prosecutors are expecting more trials of individuals charged with engaging a prostitute. Eight of the 68 individuals charged have indicated plans to take their case to court, trials for two of which are scheduled in September. A total of 59 of those charged have pled guilty or no contest.

Prolman said following Tuesday's ruling that prosecutors have "major material issues" that they will have to "attend to with all the other pending cases."

While Kennebunk Police have said they could charge an additional 40 individuals with engaging a prostitute this summer, Deputy District Attorney Justina McGettigan said prosecutors will be looking at the judge's ruling and evaluating further cases now that the issue of evidence has come to light.

Following Hill's trial, where Wright was not compelled to testify, convicted pimp Mark Strong did not offer much in his testimony and where prosecutors sought to introduce evidence that did not directly show an exchange of money, McGettigan said there may not be enough to continue with some cases.

"If there were probable cause to go forward, that may not be enough given the ruling today," she said. "Either there's sufficient evidence to proceed in which case we will, or there's not in which case we won't."

The judge's decision to dismiss the case, effectively acquitting Hill of the charge, centered around what the judge called the "linchpin" of the case, the client ledger.

Attorneys argued Tuesday morning over whether the ledger could be used as evidence and Prolman raised concerns with the chain of custody of some evidence, particularly computer items seized from Wright's High Street office on Feb. 14, 2012 on which the ledger was found.

"This is the very reason why we have chain of custody. So I don't wonder where this stuff was, so I don't wonder if she went home and erased stuff," Prolman said, referring to Kennebunk Police Officer Audra Presby, who appeared on the stand Tuesday.

McGettigan called the claims "outrageous."

Presby testified that she was able to match the dates and times of services rendered according to the ledger with dates and times of Skype screen shots obtained from the computer of Wright's business partner, Strong.

"Ms. Wright could be an accountant she's so particular about the records and that's what this case is about," McGettigan said. "There are 59 people who have pled guilty for specific dates mentioned in this ledger it's so accurate."

Jurors on Tuesday were shown 38 images of Hill and Wright engaged in a sexual encounter inside her former Kennebunk Zumba studio. The images were taken as Skype screenshots on Nov. 1, 2011 from 8:31 a.m. to 9:15 a.m. and Hill's name was located in an 8:30 a.m. slot that day on the ledger, with "BJ" and "HJ" listed as services provided.

While Presby testified that the Skype screenshots "could" be showing one of those sexual acts, Prolman argued that the ledger and images do not definitively prove what services his client received or that he paid for them.

"There's been no evidence shown by the state with regard to pecuniary interests," Prolman said.

On Monday, Wright, 30, of Wells, and Strong, 57, of Thomaston, were called to the stand. Wright, who pled guilty to running a prostitution operation, identified Hill in the courtroom Monday, and when shown a copy of the ledger exercised her Fifth Amendment rights.

"That shows it's a statement against her interest subjecting her to criminal liability," McGettigan said.

Strong often answered "I do not recall" on Monday when asked questions by prosecutors about watching Wright have sex with alleged clients via Skype, screenshot images captured via Skype and located by investigators on his computer, and ledgers seeming to detail client information and acts performed that investigators found emailed between him and Wright.

Strong said he helped Wright set up an Excel spreadsheet, or the ledger as prosecutor's referred to it, and had no other involvement in the document other than making changes for Wright when she asked. He could not recall what those changes were or why Wright asked him to make the changes.

Wright is currently serving a 10-month sentence in York County Jail after pleading guilty to 20 counts related to prostitution and tax-related offenses for running a prostitution operation out of her Kennebunk Zumba studio for more than a year and a half. Strong was found guilty of charges relating to promoting prostitution.

Hill resigned as the KHS hockey coach after 19 years in October 2012, with word coming from the district just hours after his arrest was first announced in as press release from the Kennebunk Police Department.